Missionary Update: The Creiglows in Brazil [June 2013]
Mike and Beverly Creiglow have served the Lord in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil together for 40 years. In addition to pastoring First Baptist of Cruzeiro do Sul, Mike builds his own boats and frequently travels up and down rivers to share the Gospel with those who have never heard.
June 20, 2013
Dear Brethren,
A few weeks ago Zico (our missions coordinator) Thiago, Pastor Ezi and I went to a little remote town called Jordão. We chartered one of MAF’s planes. There is no road to Jordão and to make it there by river is a major challenge. We had very little time to get there and back. For years we have been working toward a goal of having sound and dynamic Baptists churches in all 22 cities of our state. Jordão is the next one where we hope to plant a church soon.
The population is only 8000. There is an Adventist church, four varieties of Pentecostals and, of course, the Catholic church. Zico and Thiago went to get things set up with the local authorities to bring in a major medical mission group early next year. Ezi and I walked every street in the town, stopping to talk and witness to some of the town folk. We even walked the mile long beach up the Tarauacá River to the mouth of the Jordão River!
Jordão, Acre
We are now praying and seeking the right missionary couple to send. It will add to our already overstretched financial commitments to missions, but our main concern is getting the right people to that remote field.
A few months back I appointed a group of men from our church to start looking seriously for property to eventually relocate First Baptist church. As many of you know, for the past 15 years we have been filling our auditorium every Sunday night. Six or seven years back we even went to an extra service on Sunday afternoon. That service now has an average of 400 and the evening is still packed to capacity. Last Sunday night there were 8 more professions of faith. One couple even came before the church for him to ask her to marry him! Their wedding is in August. So we have been living dangerously by not providing enough room for our growth. A long time ago I tried to get the church to move out of the center of town, but couldn’t budge them. That is no longer the case. Even if they had not become ready, we were going to have to move them or risk the very real possibility of lost attendance.
I gave the three men a list of properties and GPS coordinates and took them around to identify each. There were 12 in all. Most were not for sale. Those that were had price tags anywhere from $500,000.00 the 2 and a half million dollars. Can you believe such prices in a town of 100 thousand sitting out here in the middle of the vast Amazon jungle? There was one last place that we could not find even though we had heard about it. Pastor Benjamim finally found it while I was out of town for a couple of weeks. We went to check it out the day after I got home.
18 acres of nice flat land with gently sloping sides. No street yet, but the city is supposed to put in a major thoroughfare in soon. We don’t know yet exactly where, but it should be very close if not right along one side. The land is just 3 miles from our present location. Best of all, it “only” costs $250,000.00! There is a clear title and no back taxes, too. Yesterday I sat down with the owner to hammer out a deal. We came up with 3 different ways to move forward.
Last night we had over 600 present for my presentation of the plan to the church. Actually the church had no idea that I was going to spring this on them this soon. They were so ready that the vote was unanimous to buy and the crowd erupted in applause at the close of the business meeting. NOW…..Please help us with your prayers.
We are going to try to keep our property in town. It will continue to serve our seminary and other training programs even after we move, which won’t be soon. Just our 6 lots where our present buildings sit are worth 4 million dollars! If the Lord doesn’t hurry up and come back we are going to end up leaving 10 or 15 million worth of property for the cults to squabble over during the Great Tribulation. Exciting times, these! Pray real hard for us as we advance the Kingdom of our Lord.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike and Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil 69980
mdcreig [at] hotmail.com
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Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [October 2012]
Mike and Beverly Creiglow have served the Lord in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil together for 40 years. In addition to pastoring First Baptist of Cruzeiro do Sul, Mike builds his own boats and frequently travels up and down rivers to share the Gospel with those who have never heard.
Dear Brethren,
The same day we arrived from Manaus was Crissy’s college graduation. No need to mention her top of the class grades. She also did all the gabbing to the crowd that night. Adam, Monica, Andrew and Crissy are all very good at what they do. They all get their good looks from Beverly. They get their success from the Lord. I just get to brag and enjoy it all.
A couple of days later I visited our church at Lagoinha and preached for them. They had well over 200 people present. Recently they built a brand new building and called a young man who was born and reared at our camp. Valdeci has got them back to doing missions and seems to be leading the church in a good direction. It had been almost dead not long ago. I feel better, now.
Pastor Pedro held our annual couple’s camp. There were 62 couples present. Many of them had to sleep in tents since we don’t have enough cabins. The ladies camp earlier last month had over 140 women. The men have gotten together and will be building at least 2 more cabins by December. I started the camp ministry in 1977 and just in the last few years has the church really seen the need and usefulness of the camp. These things take time and perseverance.
This week we got the last bracing out from the 2nd floor of the annex. Looking good. We are now going to be able to use the 9 class rooms, 3 bath rooms, storage room, sound room and 1500 square foot meeting hall. None of this is finished out, but we will go ahead and use it as we work. At the same time I am building 2 more bathrooms just off of the third floor and a pretty good size kitchen. I have already made the 14 steel columns. Tomorrow I start building the steel trusses to the third and final floor.
Hudson just got back from up river. He and 3 other of our evangelists did house to house, person to person evangelism on a section of the Juruá River. The section they covered is from the mouth of the Grajaú River to the mouth of the Cruzeiro do Vale River. Almost 50 miles of river. I don’t know how many people they witnessed to, but he said there were 23 professions of faith.
Here in town we haven’t had that many people saved, but continue to have one or 2 every week. Last Sunday a man who I’ve known for many years, Ivan, made his public profession of faith. He works for the state road department. For a long time he worked on the ferry, so we had plenty of little and sometimes longer chats over the years.
Our small group meetings have been great. We have people from all walks of life. We have everything from an ex convict (who we won through our prison ministry) to doctors, engineers, a district attorney, a judge and 3 businessmen. One of our guys even sells bananas to make a living. Everyone is treated alike and gets along just great in Christ. This is fun to see and be part of. Last night we met by the Moa River and grilled some burgers to go along with our Bible study. When we finally got home it was 92 degrees in our house at 11:30PM. Here’s the deal: If it gets too cold for you there in the States and you need some physical and spiritual warmth, then come on down.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike and Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil 69980
mdcreig [at] hotmail.com
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Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [February 2012]
Mike and Beverly Creiglow have served the Lord in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil together for 40 years. In addition to pastoring First Baptist of Cruzeiro do Sul, Mike builds his own boats and frequently travels up and down rivers to share the Gospel with those who have never heard.
Dear Brethren,
Hudson and I made 2 long trips this month. We visited several of our works at some of the farthest places on 2 rivers. The first trip was to the mountains on the Moa River. The second trip was all the way into Peru on the Juruá River.
We visited our congregations at Pé da Serra and República. Both are doing well. Pé da Serra is steady in attendance, but we don’t expect growth as it is inside the national park. The federal government is trying to get everybody to move out. Nevertheless, the folks there have put up a new building. We helped them with our standard floor plans, design and the roofing. It is almost finished. In fact, the day we arrived I got straight out of the boat and went to work with them on the building. We held services every night and worked on the building during the days. Our visit at República was brief. This work is in the Nukini Indian reservation, so growth there is slow and limited, too. Our pastor there is Aldenízio. He is 25 years old and just graduated from high school. The tribe wanted him to be principal of the school, but he felt that it would interfere with his ministry, so he declined. He made a wise decision. The cultural and political pressures would have been huge. The day with left the reservation, headed for home, we got caught in one of our all day tropical rains. We were in my little jon boat with 20HP outboard. It was over 5 hours of COLD rain. We survived, though and just a few short days later we were back on the river in the same boat and same weather.
Bro. Mike Creiglow baptizing a couple at Foz do Breu.
Our second trip was up the Juruá River. We visited 6 of our works, 5 of our missionaries, held 6 services, baptized 2 during our 7 day trip. We also helped settle in our newest foreign missionary family. Brother Eduardo is a Caxinauá native, from Peru. We have done some switching around of missionaries and fields. All the moves were natural and practical. Brother Tito (who had been at Tipisca, Peru) moved to Contamana to work among the Chipibo, his native tribe. We then moved José Maia to Tipisca from the Breu. José had been working with the Caxinauá. He was trying to learn the language yet. While Tito was at Tipisca he had worked only with the tribes and not the native Peruvians, so we feel that José Maia will be a better fit to work with the whole population. He has plenty of experience in this type of pioneer mission work. Then the Lord brought us Eduardo and family from the Purús River. He is Caxinauá. This gives him 2 big advantages: 1. He already speaks the language and knows the culture, 2. He does not need a government permit to go into the tribe. All this to say that all fields are covered, plus a new area was opened and a new missionary added. It was a great trip. This one alone was over 1000KM. Lots of sun and plenty of rain. Lots of blessings.
The newest missionary to the Caxinauá tribe, Eduardo and his family. He already speaks the language, knows the culture, and does not need a government permit to go into the tribe!
Let me remind you about the need to pay for the jet drive and satellite phone renewal, which costs $2,000.00. Our support has also dropped dramatically over the past few months. I know the US economy is in a deep depression, but I also know that God’s people will continue to give if they see the need. Bev and I are committed to continue to serve here regardless of the support level.
So, thanks for your faithful prayers and support. God will bless you just as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike and Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil 69980
mdcreig [at] hotmail.com
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